Scott Frost named new Nebraska head football coach

Home came calling and Scott Frost -- after months of partially confirmed reports and a #FrostWatch social media cycle that included branded T-shirts sold in sports memorabilia stores throughout the state -- finally, officially answered.

The 42-year-old has been hired to be Nebraska’s new head coach, the 30th in school history, signed to a seven-year, $35 million contract. He will be introduced in a press conference Sunday at noon.

"I am thrilled that Scott is returning to his alma mater," Nebraska Athletic Director Bill Moos said in a news release. "I truly believe that we have hired the premier young coach in the country."

Frost will be the program's fifth man-in-charge in the last 15 years, tasked with steering a sinking ship back to shore. Considering the Cornhuskers were governed by Tom Osborne from 1973 to 1997, the last decade and a half has been quite the departure.

In recent weeks, Frost's name felt less like a possibility in an ever-swirling coaching carousel and more like the only option the Husker fan base was willing to accept.

"It is a great honor and privilege to have the opportunity to return to Nebraska and to lead the Husker football program," Frost said. "The state of Nebraska and the Husker program mean a great deal to me. This is home."

The Wood River native grew up 100 miles from Memorial Stadium; said Frost in an Oct. 2013 interview, "Nebraska will always be home to me."

In two seasons at Central Florida, Frost turned an 0-12 program into a 6-7 up-and-comer in year one and an undefeated, New Year's Six bowl contender in year two. Earlier Saturday, the Knights won the American Athletic Conference title. UCF brought in an average of 5,738 more fans per game in 2016 relative to 2015 -- only nine teams saw larger attendance spikes, many of them blue-blood programs.

He served as Oregon’s offensive coordinator from 2013 to 2015 and the team’s wide receivers coach from 2009 to 2012, learning under the tutelage of Chip Kelly and Mark Helfrich. He spent a season as Northern Iowa’s defensive coordinator in 2008, the team’s linebackers coach in 2007, and was a graduate assistant at Kansas State in 2006 and at Nebraska in 2002.

Like his father before him, Frost played for the Huskers, becoming the school's first quarterback to run and pass for 1,000 yards in a single season. He was a member of two national championship-winning teams and was subsequently selected by the New York Jets in the third round of the 1998 NFL draft. He played six seasons in the NFL for four teams. Look at a photo of him on the sideline; Frost still carries the physique of an NFL-ready athlete.

The announcement comes days after Mike Riley was fired, his 19-19 record over the past three seasons in Lincoln lying limp. In his last, Nebraska finished with a 4-8 record, the team's worst in the last 56 years and the fourth losing campaign the team's had since John F. Kennedy was president.

"Scott Frost is a very good football coach," Moos said matter-of-factly during his latest press conference. "And he's getting a lot of attention."

Home came calling and Scott Frost -- after months of partially confirmed reports and a #FrostWatch social media cycle that included branded T-shirts sold in sports memorabilia stores throughout the state -- finally, officially answered.

The 42-year-old has been hired to be Nebraska’s new head coach, the 30th in school history, signed to a seven-year, $35 million contract. He will be introduced in a press conference Sunday at noon.